EDITORIAL: Good for children, good for the economy

Apr. 3—Moving through the General Assembly last week were proposals for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to comprehensively address two issues that dog Connecticut: The state regularly lags behind others in job creation and economic growth rate and, despite its great institutions of learning and overall high student performance, still suffers from an intractable K-12 learning gap.

If enacted in terms similar to those emerging from committees, the bills could transform children's whole school experience and simultaneously address the state's immediate and future needs for more skilled and educated workers.

It won't come cheap, but instead of the wishful biennial budget Band-aids that have hardly touched both problems, the legislature is being asked to get behind long-term early childhood and pre-K programs proven to improve children's kindergarten readiness and the next 12 years of their education.

Having been ready for kindergarten is the best thing that could happen to a ninth-grader. Knowing that one's young child is not only safe and content but also learning makes it possible for parents to earn a living.

Legislators will have to weigh up to $700 million in funding requests for measures that might have gotten federal funds in the Biden administration's Build Back Better plan to repair the "human infrastructure." That legislation moved to the back burner, but combined with the forced pandemic experiments in remote and hybrid learning, educators and families are increasingly convinced that early education gives children the best odds for success in school. The long-range goal is the same as it always has been: higher graduation rates and the readiness of young adults to seek post-high school training or college.

Until now, the state's budget deficits and lack of reserve funds precluded investing in early childhood and pre-K programs at the needed levels. With the brimful rainy-day fund and the boost already received from federal ARPA funds, a large-scale investment is now doable if the will is there.

Specifically, bills in both state chambers would fund many more slots for children and improve salaries and tuition assistance for early childhood teachers — who generally work for non-profit agencies, are nonunionized and are paid much less than public school teachers. More child care programs would gain accreditation. The proposals would make not only working parents but those who are studying or training for jobs eligible for child care assistance. Child behavioral problems would be better monitored as a health issue and more quickly addressed.

Inherent in the reforms are the problems of poverty and racial inequities, voter apathy and disaffected citizens, and taxpayer frustration with throwing money at problems for little result. The failed match-up between good jobs that go begging and young Connecticut adults unprepared to fill them affects everyone who lives here or gives up and leaves. The cycle breeds resignation and even hopelessness.

Advocates, including the CEOs of childcare programs in this region — TVCCA, Riverfront Children's Center and Child and Family Agency of Southeastern CT — say a key need is to create more teaching jobs and reverse a decline in college students majoring in early childhood education because they will be poorly paid. With the rise in the state's minimum wage, teachers of infants, toddlers and preschoolers no longer make much more than the minimum but are often carrying the bills and loans of an associate's or bachelor's degree.

Throughout the pandemic, all three local programs stayed open, providing child care for doctors, nurses and other essential workers. Program staff — many of them young parents themselves — thus became essential to the work of medical professionals. Even though the emergency has subsided, preschool and early childhood teachers remain essential if parents are to work.

At Riverfront in Groton, parents pay tuition on a sliding scale, with full weekly cost for an infant or toddler at $290 and for a preschooler $185. The fees do not cover costs. The three local programs combined currently must raise over $1 million in donations to support annual operations. Statewide, providers are seeking an increase in the annual state payment from the current $9,000 per child to $14,500.

Something must be done if Connecticut's 2030 economy, educational system, earnings and employment are going to look better than today. There are good reasons to bet that this investment is that "something."

The Day editorial board meets regularly with political, business and community leaders and convenes weekly to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Tim Dwyer, Managing Editor Izaskun E. Larrañeta, staff writer Erica Moser and retired deputy managing editor Lisa McGinley. However, only the publisher and editorial page editor are responsible for developing the editorial opinions. The board operates independently from the Day newsroom.